Utah State coach Stew Morrill will finally get his wish.

The Western Athletic Conference is taking its basketball tournaments to a neutral site in Las Vegas at the Orleans,  according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Morrill has long been a proponent of playing the conference tournament either at a neutral site or, like the Big Sky Conference where he got his coaching start, on the home court of the No. 1 seed.

No. 1 seed Utah State had to defeat Nevada on its home court last season to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA tourney. Nevada will also host the 2010 tourney before it moves to Vegas in 21.

WAC commissioner Karl Benson has discussed the possibility of moving the tourney to the Orleans in the past. The West Coast Conference currently plays its conference tourney at the site.

The WAC has announced a press conference for Wednesday with a “major announcement.”

This is an extended version of a story appearing in Tuesday’s Standard-Examiner sports section:

By Roy Burton
Standard-Examiner staff
rburton@standard.net

LOGAN — Cancel the search to replace the winningest men’s basketball coach in Utah State history: Stew is staying.

Aggies coach Stew Morrill interviewed for the Washington State coaching job on Sunday, then announced Monday he was no longer a candidate. The Cougars subsequently hired Portland State coach Ken Bone.

“I have not and will not pursue other coaching jobs,” Morrill said in a statement released by the school. “Washington State contacted me and I think it was understood all along that I have deep roots here and it would be very difficult for us to leave Utah State University, Cache Valley and the state of Utah.”

Count Utah State athletics director Scott Barnes among the Aggies fans exhaling in relief.

“Essentially, Stew screwed my weekend up,” Barnes joked Monday. “It was very quick. We heard about it on Friday night and it was done today, so that was good news.”

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Utah State men’s basketball coach Stew Morrill is staying in Logan.

Morrill, who interviewed for the open Washington State coaching job on Sunday, announced through USU on Monday that he is no longer a candidate for the position.

“I have not and will not pursue other coaching jobs,” Morrill said in a statement released by the school. “Washington State contacted me and I think it was understood all along that I have deep roots here and it would be very difficult for us to leave Utah State University, Cache Valley and the state of Utah.”

Before leading Utah State to a 30-5 record and its 10th consecutive postseason berth this season, Morrill signed a contract extension to coach the Aggies through the 2014-15 season.

Morrill, the Western Athletic Conference coach of the year, is the all-time winningest coach at Utah State with a record of 267-91 (.746) in 11 seasons.

Utah State men’s basketball coach Stew Morrill interviewed for the open head coaching position at Washington State, the Seattle Times reported Sunday.

Morrill, the most successful coach in USU history, was one of two leading candidates to meet with Washington State athletics director Jim Sterk on Sunday.

Morrill had been visiting family in Colorado while Sterk returned from Detroit where he was attending the Final Four.

Portland State coach Ken Bone was also interviewed Sunday and has been a top prospect since Cougars coach Tony Bennett left for a new job at Virginia last Monday. Sterk said earlier he would like to fill the position at the Pullman, Wash., school within a week of Bennett’s departure, which means an offer to the leading candidate could come today.

Alabama-Birmingham coach Mike Davis and others were interviewed in Detroit.

In October, Utah State athletics director Scott Barnes signed Morrill to a contract extension through the 2014-15 season. The extension and its associated buyout may make hiring Morrill more expensive for Washington State than hiring Bone, who has led the Big Sky’s Portland State to the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons.

Still, the Cougars could offer a significant raise for Morrill over his annual USU salary of $406,409 before incentives. Morrill is Utah State University’’s highest paid employee; Bennett was reportedly paid $1 million annually by Washington State.

Pac-10 school Washington State is in the same state where Morrill played college basketball and began his coaching career at Gonzaga and is just eight miles down the road from the University of Idaho, a WAC opponent of Utah State where longtime Morrill assistant coach Don Verlin was hired to coach the Idaho Vandals this past season.

Three Morrill proteges would likely be in the running for the Utah State position if Morrill were to leave Logan: Verlin, Weber State coach Randy Rahe and current Aggies assistant Tim Duryea, all of whom who have spent significant time with Morrill’s system.

Utah State finished this season with a 30-5 record, the best in school history, and lost to Marquette in the first round of the NCAA tournament in what was USU’s 10th consecutive postseason berth in Morrill’s 11 seasons at the helm.

The Aggies have won back-to-back Western Athletic Conference championships and Morrill was named the conference coach of the year for the first time since USU joined the league in 2005.

Since Utah State went 15-13 in Morrill’s first season, the Aggies have averaged 25.2 wins per year over the last 10 seasons and been to the NCAA tournament six times, with four trips to the NIT.

Utah State fought back from a 14-point deficit to take a six-point lead late in the second half, but Marquette’s ability to get to the line made the difference. MU was 19-of-23 from the line, while Utah State was 6-of-8.

The sixth-seeded Golden Eagles advance, while No. 11 Utah State ends another postseason early.

Jared Quayle had a huge game with for USU with 18 points and eight rebounds. Tai Wesley and Gary Wilkinson added 15 points each.

Forward Lazar Hayward was Marquette’s dominant leader, scoring 26 points with eight rebounds. Guard Jerel McNeal had 14 points and Wesley Matthews added 11.

With Quayle and Wesley on the bench with five fouls, Jaxon Myaer buried a 3 at the final buzzer, but it didn’t come soon enough for Utah State to get another shot to overcome its four-point deficit.

The best field goal shooting team in the country is missing its shots. Utah State averages 49.8 percent from the floor, but Marquette has held them to 30.8 percent in the first half of their NCAA tournament first round game at Taco Bell Arena in Boise.

The Golden Eagles aren’t shooting much better. Both teams have taken 26 shots and Marquette has made 9 to USU’s 8. The difference is MU has made a couple more 3s and is 5-of-6 from the free throw line. USU is 1-of-8 from 3-point range and has only one point from the charity stripe.

Marquette’s Lazar Hayward scored the first 10 points for MU and the Golden Eagles led by as many as 14. USU cut in to that lead and Gary Wilkinson had a wide open 3 at the buzzer to make it even closer, but like so many of USU’s shots so far, it was just off the mark.

Utah State’s 18 points is tied for its lowest total at the half this season.

March Madness is about to turn into insanity for the large group of Utah State fans who made the trip to Boise.

Tipoff is coming soon at Taco Bell Arena and we’re about to find out if the Aggies play with the same poise and fire that led them through the WAC tournament in Reno last week.

Marquette is 1-5 against tough Big East  since losing point guard Dominic James to a broken foot, but the Golden Eagles have plenty of talent left over.

It will be a battle between to contrasting styles, as I said in today’s Standard-Examiner. Read the game preview here.

The Aggies, wearing their navy blue, are at the center circle now. Let the Madness begin!

Big Blue is back. From the Associated Press:

The Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho — “Big Blue” has served his sentence and will be back in uniform for Utah State in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.

The Aggies’ mascot was suspended one game for scuffling with New Mexico State’s “Pistol Pete” during Utah State’s win in the Western Athletic Conference semifinals last week.

“We went ahead and suspended him for one game. He’s back and will be ready to go,” Utah State athletic director Scott Barnes said Thursday.

The Aggies open the East Regional against Marquette — and look for Big Blue to be on his best behavior. The blue bull had to sit out Utah State’s win over Nevada in the WAC title game.

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